Sideswipe: Toilet humour

Eva spotted these signs clustered together in the Nelson suburb of Stoke.

A reader writes: "This sign was snapped in an office toilet in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Some workers from the Indian subcontinent don't see the point of sit-down lavatories and break seats by standing on them."

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Leonie Lander from Birkenhead writes: "Juha should be very concerned if Interflow is anywhere near her property. Last year, they were working in our area and, like Juha, I received a note to inform us to take the same precautions. One day, I had a meeting at home with another person (this is a home office) when there was the most amazing noise. My first thought was that my washing machine was about to explode, but then realised it wasn't on. But in the toilet I found sewage water cascading from the ceiling and down the walls. I rang the North Shore council with words almost as bad as the smell coming from my bathroom. The pressure had also blasted the trap out of the shower so black gunk (you can guess what) was over the base of the shower as well. Two staff were dispatched and they arrived with a bottle of detergent and a couple of old cleaning rags they kept in the back of their truck and wiped the surface down. They seemed to think it was a great joke. One claimed I must have sensitive pipes; the other said he hoped his wife never got to find out he had just cleaned a toilet for the first time. Despite my cleaning it, I felt it was no longer hygienic, so I am pulling the bathroom out and relining it and replacing the shower."

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A US teenager has been banned from his own graduation for breaking strict "no dancing" rules by attending his girlfriend's prom. Heritage Christian School, run by fundamentalist Baptists in Ohio, had warned Tyler Frost, 17, it forbids dancing, rock music and hand-holding. Tyler's principal, Tim England, said: "Should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low-cut dresses and be dancing in them?"

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Marty declares: "Typical of North Shore council. They are terrified of touching pohutukawa trees. A few years ago there was a dangerous branch that was sagging adjacent to Takapuna Beach. They shut that section of the beach for over a year pending a 'safety audit'. Eventually the branch sagged on to a concrete block wall and the council decided it was then safe! If there is a danger then it needs to be cut down. Make a decision and get on with it."

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See today's Herald cartoon